From a small town to a big city...
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A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
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Hello all! Yesterday (11/15/17) my Dad and I went on a road trip to Sedona to bird and hike. We decided to hike up Bell Rock, named for its bell shape, but you should know that already. Birds were pretty quiet, other than some unidentified songsters and OREGON DARK-EYED JUNCOS the landscape was empty. Since few birds wanted to reveal their presence, I decided to get a few lifer trees, and photograph them in case I couldn't put an ID on them right away and save that for home. Flora is very diverse in Sedona, with an array of conifers, my favorites! In the photographs below, there are; ONESEED JUNIPER, UTAH JUNIPER, ARIZONA CYPRESS, and the TWO-NEEDLED PINYON (latter 2 lifers), along with various acacias (Mesquite and Palo Verde), PALMER OAKS, and Prickly Pear Cacti. The color of the rock was an intense red (hence the lot of tourists there!) and stunning! We continued up the very steep face of the cliff, until we could continue no further. As you ascend, the clarity of the path goes away. There's a variety of ways to get up the cliff face, but we weren't sure how much time it would take or energy. As my shirt that I was wearing yesterday says, you pretty much have to make your own path to get up there, choosing your footing wisely, so as not to do the splits going up or down (which I did do, ouch!) When we made our way down the walking path, I found some movement in a bush. I had to look long and hard into the back of the dense what-ever-it-was bush to identify the bird that was in there. It was a SPOTTED TOWHEE! A gorgeous male too! I wish I could showcase photos of the beautiful big sparrow, but the camera would focus on the branches of the bush but not him because he was at the bottom of the bush. Then he flew into a pinyon but I couldn't find him till my dad pointed him out, but he flew off as soon as I went to his location. As we got closer to the end of the trail, a bird started calling from some nearby tree. He sounded like a higher pithed Magpie, but magpies aren't found in the region, so he must have been some kind of Jay. Alas, my Dad spotted him, but as I raised my binoculars he took off, already on his way down deeper into the forest. At home his voice confirmed he was a WOODHOUSE'S SCRUB-JAY, one of my target lifers. I should have been leaping for joy under normal circumstances, but I got no chance to enjoy the bird's full beauty. As soon as I saw him, he was gone. He is what I like to classify as a flash-lifer. I only get a mere glimpse or flash of some part of it or a mere silhouette, instead of that desired view where as soon as I step out of the car or as soon as I start walking I spot it. Unfortunately I believe we have all gotten that kind of lifer, we hear or see it enough to ID it, but it does not stay still long enough for us to experience or appreciate it. I do not just want to tally a lifer, I want to appreciate its beauty! On a lighter note, it is my 100th lifer this year! My best birding pace yet, I do have Arizona to thank for that! So we went back to the vehicle, and due to a leg problem with Dad, we agreed to drive to Flagstaff, yay! The drive to flagstaff was SPECTACULAR! With a diversity of conifers that were all towering a hundred feet above us! The sky-scraping forest included some beautiful trees such as; My first ROCKY MOUNTAIN subsp. DOUGLAS FIRS, my first ever WHITE FIRS, and predominantly, PONDEROSA PINES! Closer to Sedona, there were a huge variety of Willows, plus FREMONMT COTTONWOODS, my first ARIZONA SYCAMORES, my first ALLIGATOR JUNIPERS and other unidentified deciduous trees. After almost hitting a deer and spotting a "scenic view" sign, we decided to stop at the scenic view. Wow, is a pretty good word to describe the view! I also found my first RED-BACKED and GRAY-HEADED DARK-EYED JUNCOS, pretty much side by side! I also found and photographed an un-identified species of Juniper, but was later to be confirmed as my first ROCKY MOUNTAIN JUNIPER! A very pretty tree. The most epic part of the trip was when I was enjoying the vast wilderness when a bird flew into a lower branch of the canopy of a tree positioned on the cliff side underneath the observation platform. That in of itself wasn't epic, what was however was that this was a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE! (!!!!) I've seen it before at my best friend's house in Alaska, but its mere silhouette (making it a flash-lifer!) This was the un-obstructed view I had wanted of this bird since that day, and it was a total surprise! The view that went with the bird made it all the more special! I remember saying to my Dad yesterday: "I HAAAVE to get a picture of this bird!!" And that I did, see in photo section. 141.1 miles. Only one lifer. Nonetheless, a great road trip to get me out of the house! Other birds observed were; Great-tailed Grackles, Eurasian Collared, Mourning Rock, and White-winged Doves, House Sparrows, BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS, COMMON RAVEN, AMERICAN CROW, GOLDEN EAGLE (always an epic sight), TURKEY VULTURE, RED-TAILED HAWK, SWAINSON'S HAWK, possibly a NORTHERN GOSHAWK, a BLACK PHOEBE, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, and an AMERICAN KESTREL. Townsend's Solitaire! Red-backed Junco! (Note bicolored bill) The unique Arizona Cypress Canopy of a Douglas Fir The tallest Pine (Pinus genus) in North America, the Ponderosa Pine! A very magnificent species! The stunning view that the overlook revealed! Ponderosa Pines, White Firs, and Douglas Firs make up the vast forest. My first Rocky Mountain Juniper! Red Rocky Country... Sedona! Oneseed Juniper, Utah Juniper, Twoneedled Pinyon, Palmer Oak, Honey Mesquite and Arizona Cypress predominate the forest. Beautiful Yavapai Co. Happy Birding!
Please leave a comment if you may and click that like button! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next post!
1 Comment
Tyler Ramos
11/22/2017 03:54:16 pm
Jared is my cousin. He does a fantastic job at taking photos.
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